SINGAPORE—Real-time payments are now as popular as cash as a payment method for consumers in Southeast Asia, according to new research from ACI Worldwide and YouGov.
Three out of five consumers (61%) in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore prefer real-time payments as a favored way to pay in 2021, level with cash (61%) and higher than other payment categories, including digital wallets requiring cash or card top-ups (56%) and credit cards (30%).
This shift towards real-time payments has been dramatically accelerated by changing payment necessities and preferences caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost a third (30%) of consumers in Southeast Asia have reduced usage of traditional payment methods such as cash, credit cards and debit cards since the onset of COVID-19. As a result, over half (53%) are now using real-time payments more frequently than they were prior to the pandemic, ACI Worldwide stated in a release.
‘Fundamental Shift’
“This fundamental shift in consumer demand and payment expectations sets forth a challenge for Southeast Asia’s banks, financial institutions and merchants,” said Leslie Choo, managing director – Asia, ACI Worldwide. “These organizations can ill-afford to put their modernization projects on hold, despite the challenges caused by COVID-19. On the contrary, they can drive growth by joining the region’s emerging real-time payments ecosystem, which will improve their ability to innovate and transform while reducing the cost of infrastructure and operations.”